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Hal Jeskin
Hal Jeskin is an independent journalist and information broker living in Seattle, Washington, aided by his Standing Ripple Weezer. Once a rising star known for his hard-pressing investigative research into major superhuman organizations across the world, an encounter with the Ocean 11 gang during an investigation led to him being tortured and left for dead. Unbeknownst to the mob, this torture granted him his own Standing Ripple, and he now works as a neutral party in the ongoing conflicts within this new grouping of heroes and villains in Seattle. The character was created by to break into the new concept of Standing Ripples and to provide a new unknown factor in the saga that's formed around such characters, with the potential to act as friend or foe depending on the situation. Hal Jeskin was once at the forefront of investigative journalism on the growing superhero population of Earth, even landing interviews at F.A.N.T that helped establish some of their policies more clearly to the public in the wake of the Gray Demon incident, but these days are behind him. While doing research on what seemed to be ghost sightings in the Seattle area, Jeskin stumbled upon a paper trail that connected Sea Legs and Wings to a supply of a mysterious mineral known as Ripplite. Before he could share these findings, he was captured by the Ocean 11 gang and subjected to torture in which Ripplite shavings were placed on his tongue and "activated" with a prismatic laser. The mob assumed him dead and threw him into a harbor, but he was saved by his new Standing Ripple, Weezer. Now, he works as a neutral party amongst the growing community of Ripple users, using his journalism chops to find information and distribute it by his own jaded moral compass. Description Hal Jeskin Description Hal Jeskin is a somewhat short man with pale skin, his tongue an odd shade of purple after being burnt by Ripplite. He has messy, curly black hair, not really styling it at all other than spiking it up a bit, showing his forehead. He wears thick-framed reading glasses and his standard outfit is a very loose beige suit jacket, a thick white scarf, a dark gray button-up shirt, some black skinny jeans, and black dress shoes. He can often be seen in gray leather gloves that he claims are part of his work. Weezer Description Weezer is a fairly humanoid Standing Ripple in general shape, with its main oddity being its torso, shaped almost like a flying saucer with a massive "smile" running across the front, functioning somewhat like a whale's baleen filter. This torso has several tiny holes circling around the top and a muscular human abdomen coming out of the bottom. Weezer's arms and legs resemble those of a fit human's, albeit with joint lines over what appears to be flesh, and it wears black biking shorts that come down to its calves. It has a miniscule head that it always covers in a hat, with only two bright eyes resembling headlights shining through. Uniquely, Weezer has its own sense of fashion that Hal doesn't control, changing colors and hats on a whim. These looks are referred to out-of-universe as Albums. *'Blue Album' - Weezer is two shades of sky blue, a light and dark tone, and wears a dark gray knit toque. *'Green Album' - Weezer is lime green and off-white, and wears a brown fedora. *'Red Album' - Weezer is bright red and a deep, almost black blue, and wears a cowboy hat. *'White Album' - Weezer is milk white and beige, and wears a straw hat with a flower in it. *'Teal Album' - Weezer is neon teal and fuchsia, and wears a white top hat. *'Black Album' - Weezer is black and silver, and wears a baseball cap. Personality Hal Jeskin was once a much happier man with cutting wit and a talent for speaking to people, but he's become something of a jaded shut-in since he survived his encounter with Ocean 11. He still has quite the sense of humor and the same intellect as before, but his brush with death and acquiring superpowers sent him into heavy shock, and he's coped by taking up something of a "film noir" persona, acting like a grizzled outcast. Despite any sense of taste or feeling in his mouth being ruined by torture, he's still an incredibly picky eater, eating mostly diner food and calling it "fine American cuisine". His years of journalism experience combined with his knowledge of Ocean 11 have given him a distinct distrust and disdain for authority; not only organizations like CHELPRO and F.A.N.T, but even vigilante groups like Unten Bluzen and friends. He's resourceful, smart, and even charming in the right situations, but his jaded outlook often means he can't use these talents to their fullest, or for the right causes. Hal Jeskin's work now involves staying off the grid as much as possible and collecting information on the ongoing superhero phenomenon in Seattle. He keeps track of new Standing Ripple users, new heroes, rumors about the activities of groups like CHELPRO, and passes this information along not for money or compensation, but by his own standards on who could benefit most from this information. This line of work often leaves him watching others from the sidelines, but once he's made his presence known, he doesn't shy away, and is entirely willing to befriend people even while informing them he's keeping tabs on them. Beneath this neutral, jaded act, Hal does seem to generally have his heart in the right place and wants to be able to trust people again. Weezer is a very difficult Standing Ripple to discern; it seems to act fairly cold and uncaring most of the time, but also has its own eccentricities. It changes its colors and clothes often, completely outside of Hal's control and when summoned in his office, makes it a point to put music on or tidy up. Appearances Powers and Abilities Hal Jeskin's Standing Ripple, Weezer, provides him with all his powers, as he is a fairly average human man without any particular training. Weezer's primary ability, Hash Pipe, allows it to act as a superpowered vacuum of sorts; while it can't completely remove oxygen from a space, it can vacuum out particular aspects such as heat and cold to control the climate of the area around itself and Hal. In just seconds, it can take an environment to below freezing temperatures or put it into burning heat. Its vacuum suction is also powerful enough to pull small projectiles off course, although allowing these into its body can cause even more damage. Weezer can redirect any thermal energy it takes in as a glowing pink gas referred to as El Scorcho, with powerful corrosive properties like acid, and this substance only becomes more powerful when allowed to charge up inside Weezer's body before release. It can blow El Scorcho out of its mouth or the various holes on its torso, coat itself in the gas to become a walking corrosive weapon for a short time, or even transfer the substance into Hal's lungs through putting its hands on him, letting him store it for a sneak attack. Weezer's secondary ability, The British Are Coming, allows it to vacuum up noise. This takes a while to charge, as it generally has to siphon off just the sound waves that humans don't perceive, so that it doesn't interrupt important information or give away that it's preparing to use this power. Once it's built up enough, Hal can use Weezer as a living megaphone, not only amplifying his voice but causing those who hear his messages to fall into a mysterious panic. This ability seems to combine physical sound with telepathic suggestion to cause its more dangerous effects, and therefore is less effective against those with psychic abilities or protection. Specific Abilities Relationships TBA Trivia *Weezer is named after the band, with abilities named after their songs "Hash Pipe", "El Scorcho", and "The British Are Coming". Its "Album" palette swaps are a reference to the band's several self-titled albums, which are distinguished by the colors of their covers. **Red Album in particular draws extra inspiration from its associated album, wearing a cowboy hat just as Rivers Cuomo did on that album's cover. *Hal Jeskin draws inspiration from several sources; in the context of Standing Ripples being inspired by JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, his eccentric loner personality and slightly ambiguous morals were inspired by Rohan Kishibe from Diamond is Unbreakable, while his particular brand of misguided jaded cynicism was inspired by Rorschach from Watchmen. Category:Original Characters Category:Characters Category:Males Category:Bisexual Characters Category:Standing Ripple Users Category:Standing Ripples